Participatory breeding: tool for conservation of … · Participatory breeding: tool for...

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doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.15446/v64n3sup.50550 e-ISSN 2323-0118

Participatory breeding: tool for conservation of neglected and underutilized crops Mejoramiento participativo: herramienta para la conservación de cultivos subutilizados y olvidados

Creucí Maria Caetano1*, Richard Danilo Peña C.1, José Luis Maigual J.1,2, Linda Nataly Vásquez D.1, Diego Caetano Nunes1, Bruna Rafaela C.N. Pazdiora1,2

1GIRFIN – Research Group on Neotropical Plant Genetic Resources, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Palmira, Valle del Cauca,

Colombia. 2Universidade Federal de Rondônia, campus Presidente Médici, Brasil.

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Although a significant number of plant species are recognized as food, only a small fraction meets the protein

demand of the world population. Breeding crops, with a very narrow genetic base, most likely will not counteract the adverse effects of climate change. On the contrary, the crops named as underutilized, neglected, orphaned, obsolete or minor, may contain the answers in their genomes to ensure safety, nutrition and food sovereignty of populations. Duly adapted to extreme growing conditions, these local varieties, such as indigenous and landraces of Colombian maize, are part of the cultural heritage of many ethnic groups or native people, that select, use and conserve these varieties. Besides these, another concept refers to the promising resources, also little used, although for different reasons. Therefore, Participatory Plant Breeding is a tool to promote traditional local varieties or underutilized crops, to meet the needs of communities. In the PPB, members of the production chain (farmers, breeders, technicians and others) work together in the process of development of varieties, in a decentralized and participatory process. A PB program with Colombian maize germplasm resulted in the promotion of some local varieties. Alongside, new maize landraces to Colombia were described.

Key words: Orphaned crops, underutilized species, original peoples, race, ancestral knowledge, local variety.

Resumen

A pesar de un número significativo de especies vegetales ser reconocidas como alimenticias, solo una pequeña

fracción cumple con la demanda proteica de la población mundial. Los cultivos mejorados, con una base genética muy limitada, muy posiblemente no podrán contrarrestar los efectos adversos del cambio climático. Por lo contrario, los cultivos considerados subutilizados, infrautilizados, olvidados, huérfanos, obsoletos o menores, pueden contener en sus genomas las respuestas para garantizar la seguridad y la soberanía alimentaria y nutricional de las poblaciones. Esas variedades locales, debidamente adaptadas a condiciones agroclimáticas extremas, como las de maíz criollo e indígena colombiano, hacen parte del patrimonio cultural

de muchos grupos étnicos o pueblos originarios, que las seleccionan, las utilizan y las conservan. Además de estos, otro concepto se refiere a los recursos promisorios, igualmente poco utilizados, aunque por razones diferentes. Así, el Mejoramiento Participativo es una herramienta para promocionar variedades locales o cultivos tradicionales subutilizados, por atender las necesidades de las comunidades. En el Fitomejoramiento Participativo, los miembros de la cadena de valores o productiva (agricultores, fitomejoradores, técnicos y otros) trabajan juntos en el proceso de desarrollo de las variedades, en un proceso descentralizado y participativo. Un programa de MP con germoplasma de maíz colombiano resultó en la promoción de algunas variedades locales. Paralelamente se describieron nuevas razas de maíz para Colombia.

Palabras clave: Cultivos huérfanos, especies subutilizadas, pueblos originarios, raza, saber ancestral, variedad local.

Plant Breeding and Plant Genetic Resources / Mejoramiento Genético Vegetal y Recursos Fitogenéticos

Participatory breeding: tool for conservation of

neglected and underutilized crops

384

Introduction

Genetic resources (GR) and their surroundings at global level, are found, according to the

IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature (Buyck et al., 2015) – and the FAO -

Food and Agriculture Organization of the Uni-

ted Nations (2015), under imminent risky situ-

ations of several origins, from natural causes till the depredatory human intervention on the

environment (WCMC, 1992).

The most recent situation, climate change,

anticipates an uncertainty state about how to

feed the world population and ensure the avai-

lability of the domesticated species by the di-fferent human groups since the onset of agri-

culture. It is foreseen that for 2050 the human

population will be 9000 millions of people

(FAO, 2015), distributed mainly in marginal

zones, that present high levels of food and nu-trition insecurity. In this sense, the survival of

the human race is in his own hands.

According to FAO (2015), there are more

than 500 million of family units habiting the

agricultural areas of the planet which produce

most of their food. However, although diverse, thee cities are placed on the extremely poor

strings with low productivity levels. In order to

promote a sustainable growth of productivity,

strategies for improving harvesting yields, ge-

netic resources conservation and adoption of innovative management practices for crops

should be applied, generating aggregate value

and increasing the rural income.

In many of these marginal areas, in addi-

tion to conventional crops, domesticated or

semi-domesticated germplasm, product of tar-geted selection and maintained by indigenous

peoples and other traditional communities,

with broad genetic base, adapted to abiotic

stresses such as adverse weather and ecologic

conditions, or biotic, as tolerance or resistance to pests and pathogens.

Founded in 2004, the Research Group on

Neotropical Plant Genetic Resources (GIRFIN)

of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia –

Palmira, supports the postgraduate programs

in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, in spe-cial the Master in Biological Sciences with fo-

cus on research on Neotropical Plant Genetic

Resources. In its academic, extension and re-

search actions, it has built special human ca-

pabilities to work on topics that contribute to

characterize, preserve, value, document, ma-

nage and use sustainably plant genetic re-

sources.

According with this perspective, the GIRFIN, develops basic and applied studies

with different GR, mostly on Andean crops and

from the Andean valleys and wild relatives of

cultured species. Used tools are Participatory

Action Research –PAR, in special the Participa-tive Plant Breeding (PPB). Colombian local ra-

ces and varieties of maize are considered as

those crops that, although with broad genetic

base, have been minimally or poorly used.

PPB is understood as a decentralized and

participatory form of improvement where the community members, plant breeders and tech-

nicians actively participate to obtain certain

germplasm that meets the needs and prefe-

rences of farmers and indigenous peoples, es-

pecially in marginal areas (Ashby, 2009). The communities are those who, in principle, decide

what they want and what they want to improve,

thereby contributing to its food and nutrition

security and sovereignty.

The two basic and more recognized strate-

gies for PPB, used for the first time in the nine-ties in Syria, Morocco and Tunes, according to

Cecarelli (2012), are PVS (Participatory Evalua-

tion and Selection of fixed lines or varieties;

Participatory Varietal Selection) and PPB itself

(participatory creation and selection in segre-gant populations, Participatory Plant Breeding

PPB).

In the PVS, the objective is to value the

available germplasm. Easy to implement and

with own cost, at short term it generates re-

sults, it means, the varieties are rapidly adop-ted by the participant farmers of the process.

For decision making the appreciation from the

farmers and the agronomical results are com-

plemented.

In turn, the PPB is applied when the objec-tive is to rescue and/or value the quality of the

local varieties, or for marginal environments

and/or specific crop conditions or quality re-

quests, or to increase the genetic base, or when

the PVS did not reach satisfactory results.

Therefore, it involves aspects associated to the following set goals:

1 To recognize the PB as a tool that supplies

food and nutritional security and sovereign-

ty to the local communities of Colombia,

contributing to the preservation and promo-

tion of the forgotten, underutilized, orphan,

Acta Agronómica. 2015. 64 (3) Supplement, p 383--403

385

outdated and minor PGR, together with

having the potential to counteract the ad-

verse effects of climate change;

2 To promote PB techniques in farmer, indi-

genous and academic communities, as an

alternative to promote and use germplasm,

and as consequence, to preserve it.

Plant genetic resources

According to the UPOV (1991), CBD (1992),

FAO (1996) and the World Conservation Moni-

toring Centre (WCMC, 1992) a plant genetic

resource is “the material of reproduction or vegetative propagation of the following types of

plants:

1 Crop varieties (cultivars) currently in use

and newly obtained varieties;

2 Disused cultivars (obsolete);

3 Primitive cultivars (local varieties);

4 Wild and weed species (currently con-

sidered as weeds or companying plants),

close relatives to crop varieties;

5 Special genetic lines.

Associated to these crop species are found the wild relatives, important sources of genes

with immediate use in plant breeding pro-

grams. However, those wild relatives and the

ancestral crops have been neglected without

recognizing their value for use and/or disuse.

Traditional crops are identified in several categories according to their frequency of use,

exploitation and position in the market: forgo-

tten, underutilized, orphan, outdated and mi-

nor plant genetic resources. These PGR are

somehow accepted by the ITPGRFA and GPA

(FAO, 1996, 2011). Besides them, another ca-tegory of underutilized PGR belongs to the

promising crops which have food and/or agri-

cultural potential that has not been properly

recognized.

Plant genetic resources for food and

agriculture (PGRFA) and the global plan of action (GPA)

Through the International Treaty on Plant Ge-

netic Resources for Food and Agriculture –

ITPGRFA, FAO (1996) have determined some regulations with the common objective of pre-

serving and make a sustainable use of the

PGR, associated to a set of activities that

assume the startup of those strategies dis-

played by the Global Plan of Action (GPA), in its 1996 and 2011 versions.

Defined by a group of priority actions, the

GPA should offer answers to the use and

preservation of plant genetic resources for food

and agriculture, among their different catego-ries, that ensure to the communities the safety

and sovereignty in their food and nutrition,

coupled to sustainable agriculture and sus-

tainable management of ecosystemic resources

(FAO, 2011c). This means that it is priority, not

only the production, but the availability and access to food resources on a fair and even

manner, for the current or future use, accor-

ding to the international regulations and

agreements intended to this matters.

As basic principle and in summary, the ITPGRFA and the GPA have as common goal

the preservation of PGRFA and the promotion

of local varieties, that have genetic value (op-

tion) and quasi option (information), with po-

ssible potential to confront climate change. In

general, after its revision in 2011, the GPA ob-jectives are

1 To promote effectiveness and efficiency in

the global actions for preservation and sus-

tainable use of PGRFA;

2 To link the preservation with the use in order to better use the plant germplasm;

3 To strengthen the systems for seeds and

crop breeding as an impulse for economic

development;

4 To create capabilities, strengthen the na-

tional programs and widen the collabora-tions for PGRFA management;

5 To consolidate the implementation of the

International Treaty for Plant Genetic Re-

sources for Food and Agriculture.

A first step in knowing and recognizing the PGR of a country or region for their value and

sustainable use, is the generation of species

inventories. These can be done using basic

tools as collection and taxonomic identification

activities, till the use of more sophisticated

technologies like bioprospection, that uses geo-graphic information systems (GIS) and other

tools to diagnose and monitor the biological

diversity of each country for preservation and

valuation.



386

Concepts of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity

Biological diversity or biodiversity (BD) is the

variety of life in the planet Earth including the

resources comprising the genetic heritage, re-presented by the different plant, animal and

microorganism species, all the genetic variabi-

lity among species and all the diversity in the

ecosystems composed of different combinations

of species (CDB, 1992). Biodiversity also refers to the complex relationships among live beings

and between them and their environment

(BRASIL, 2008).

Additionally the BD comprises the envi-

ronmental goods and services –food, drugs,

clean water and air and, other natural re-sources that sustain several human activities-.

To keep the biodiversity in front of the growing

human impact is one of the biggest challenges

nowadays (Toledo Machado, Santilli, and

Magalhães, 2008).

The GIRFIN considers the biodiversity from

a wide and holistic meaning. Thus, the biodi-

versity is the product of the summation of all

the resources of flora, fauna and microorga-

nisms which are affected by anthropic action,

where the ancestral crops are highlighted by their management and use, associated to the

traditional and ancestral knowledge. Therefore,

there are three supplementary views of biodi-

versity: biologic, ethnic and cultural, that con-

tinuously interact.

In the fifth meeting, in 2000, in Nairobi,

Kenya, the COP-5 adopted decisions on a wor-

king program on arid and sub-humid lands;

ecosystemic approaches; access to genetic re-

sources; exotic species; sustainable use; biodi-

versity and tourism; incentive measures; Global Strategy for Plant Preservation; Global Taxo-

nomy Initiative (GTI); CHM, financial resources

and mechanisms; identification, monitoring,

evaluation and indicators; evaluation of im-

pacts, responsibility and compensation; and finally, the definition of the term Agrobiodiver-

sity, which established a link between this and

the preservation role of the ancestral communi-

ties. COP-5 also included a high level segment

on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety with a

Ministries Roundtable and a Special Signature Ceremony (Toledo Machado, Santilli and

Magalhães, 2008).

Preservation of crops or forgotten and underutilized species (EOS/NUS)

Although the PGR are considered to be 300.000

identified species and 30.000 are catalogued as

edible plant species, only three crops – maize, wheat and rice- represent around 40 to 50% of

the global calorie and protein consumption

required in the food diet and, only 30 supply

95% of the food global needs (Thies, 2000; EM-

BRAPA, 2015).

Several crops that have been used histori-

cally for food and other uses at a larger scale,

or, that can be used because their potential,

have been neglected to the underutilized, or-

phan, obsolete and/or minor state. As a whole,

these marginal crops are known as NUS (Padu-losi et al., 2011). To these traditional underva-

lued crops Silva-Ramos (2002) name them, in

general, as marginal crops, even though they

are extremely important in food and nutritional

security and sovereignty in the Andean region

and have an almost unlimited genetic breeding potential.

Hernandez-Bermejo & León (2013) consider

as marginal species those crops that in the

past and in the current conditions were repre-

sentative for the agricultural activity or the traditional agriculture and, also, in the feeding

of indigenous ethnic groups and other local

communities. They are not promising crops

since they were cultured in a more recent past.

However, currently they do not represent areas

in production or substantial consumption. Their distribution relies on regulations and

dissemination strategies and, their rescue do

not require their intensive production nor their

use as product for exportation only.

Such crops are characterized by:

1 Being local and traditional, and their distri-

bution, biology, cropping and use are badly

documented;

2 Being linked to the cultural heritage of their

location of origin;

3 Being adapted to specific agroecological niches and marginal lands;

4 Participating on an informal or formal sys-

tems (in some cases) for seed supply (small

scale);

5 Being present in traditional agroecosystems for production, with low or none external

input;


387

6 Having traditional uses in localized areas;

7 Receiving low attention by research, ex-

tension services, decision makers, donors, technology providers and consumers, de-

spite their potential for diet diversification

and supply of micronutrients like vitamins

and minerals;

8 Being very nutritive and/or with medicinal properties and other multiple uses, like en-

vironmental services because of their adap-

tation to marginal soils or weather condi-

tions;

9 Playing an important role in the sub-

sistence or survival and in the economy of marginal regions in the planet, especially in

the tropics, where the agrobiodiversity is rich (Pastor et al., 2007).

According to Hernández-Bermejo & León

(2013), the reasons why a crop or species be-

comes marginal are social, agronomic and bio-logic, predominating the first ones. Among the

reasons are the substitution of local germplasm

by a more productive one; disappearance of

ethnic groups that knew the techniques and

uses of the species, additional to the crop ma-nagement; demand variation; restrictions at the

economic, cultural, politic or religious levels,

leading to the deliberate eradication of self-

sufficient life forms, that are replaced depen-

ding on outside interests.

Categories for NUS

Underutilized and forgotten species (NUS) are

important resources for agricultural and rural

development, because they positively con-tribute to life wellness through better incomes

and nutrition, additionally they include cultu-

ral dimensions associated with history, religion

and mores of the communities (GFU, 2007).

Different concepts have been stated to de-

fine what are and which the categories are for NUS. Thus, according to some authors, is in-

cluded:

1 FAO/WHO (1992): “a marginal crop is one

that in the past, under different conditions,

was more important in conventional agri-culture, but now it focuses on feeding of lo-

cal communities and allowing food sustai-

nability of the populations with subsistence

economy”;

2 IPGRI (1998) currently Biodiversity Interna-

tional: “…crops (which) may become widely

distributed, but tends to occupy restricted

niches in the economy and local production; they are maintained by soci-

ocultural preferences and practices of local

use”;

3 Thies (2000): “species of these crops are

inadequately characterized and margi-nalized by research and conservation pro-

grams”;

4 Padulosi & Hoeschle-Zeledon (2004): “the

main characteristics of underutilized spe-

cies are its great importance in local pro-

duction systems and self-consumption; great adaptability to different agro-

ecological niches and marginal areas; being

excluded from research and development

agendas and national policies; cultivation

and use are developed based on local and traditional knowledge; the need, in most ca-

ses, of a significant degree of genetic bree-

ding and management; the fragility and

even lack of seed supply systems and low

representation in national gene banks.”

5 GFU (2004): “an underutilized species is one whose potential is not fully utilized or

exploited to contribute to food security and

poverty reduction”;

Other concepts and terms that identify

these crops are:

1 Underutilized or forgotten crop: SUB-O – is

“that crop grown in restricted areas, with

small production, local presence (not in

large national or international markets) and

very sporadic. It may have been used for

centuries or millennia for human food, fi-ber, forage, oil or medicinal properties, but

have declined in importance over time”;

2 Orphan crop: HUÉR – refers to “that crop

specially found in marginal regions, without

any research, therefore, there is insufficient information” (value of quasi option);

3 Obsolete crop: OBSO – is “that crop/

commercial variety previously sowed but,

currently with less use and outside the

market.”

Other terms that are strictly associated are:

4 Promising crop: PROM –“that crop with

great potential for use, but that has not

been exploited enough and still has low

production and sowing area; often it is not

defined its management”. According to this



388

feature, it can also refer to an orphan crop.

5 Native or indigenous crop: NATI –“species in

its center of origin or domestication (where its wild relatives are found)”;

6 Introduced crop: INTR –“introduced species

(exotic), with good adaptability, sometimes

renaturing”;

7 Domesticated crop: DOME –“species that depends on for survival (reproduction) on

anthropic actions”;

8 Semi-domesticated crop: SEM-D –“species

in process of domestication”;

9 Wild relative: PSPC/PSEC –“wild relative of

plants/cultured species”;

10 Race: – “a group of individuals with enough

number of common characters to be recog-

nized as a group” (Anderson & Cutler

1942);

11 Creole race: RC –“genetic material intro-duced several years ago, that has been se-

lected and adapted according to some envi-

ronmental conditions”;

12 Indigenous race: RI –“genetic material se-

lected and preserved by native peoples un-

der some specific environmental condi-tions”;

13 Local variety: VL –“genotype with some

characteristics that secure its use, although

with low production and, which diffusion is

done through informal seed markets, seed fairs, exchanges and other interchange

forms”.

The concept of variety

The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV, 1991) defines

“variety” as a group of plants within a single

botanical taxon of the lowest known rank that,

with interdependence of itself, do or do not fully

respond to the conditions for the grant of a breeder's right, which can:

1 Be defined by the expression of the resul-

ting characters of a genotype or a combina-

tion of genotypes;

2 Be recognized from any group of plants by

the expression of at least one of such cha-racters;

3 Be considered as a unit, because its apti-

tude to propagate without alteration.

Toledo Machado, Santilli, and Magalhães,

2008 consider local and/or traditional varieties

as the basis of family and native people’s agri-culture as result of the management and gene-

tic selection for adaptation to different envi-

ronments, translating into an essential cultural

heritage of humanity, which will ensure food

and nutrition security and sovereignty.

Frankel and Brown (1984), Thurston et al.

(1999) and Toledo Machado, Santilli, and

Magalhães, 2008 define as traditional variety a

race or a variable population of cultured plants,

adapted by the farmer using the natural condi-

tions or artificial selection. They are adapted to the management system from the adopted crop

and/or developed by local communities, collec-

tively, according to their relationship with the

environment and also, are being cultivated in

the same agroecosystem for at least three su-

ccessive generations.

According to Toledo Machado, Santilli, and

Magalhães, 2008 by old traditional variety is

understood a meaning that is the same as the

previous one, but that was developed in the

primary and secondary centers of origin, se-lected by more than ten family generations. In

contrast, a local variety is a population under

continuous management in at least five cycles

of crop by farmers in specific agro-ecological

and socio-economic environments. In turn, Thurston et al. (1999) define a modern variety

as that selected by improved or 'scientific'

methods, for agronomic characteristics, among

others, such as production, plant height,

response to inputs. Finally, the term native

variety is used for both a traditional variety to a

local variety introduced in a community for less than 20 years (Toledo Machado, Santilli, and

Magalhães, 2008).

Marginal crops in some countries of South America and Spain

Some crops in the different categories for

marginality are described as follows for diffe-rent countries or regions.

Andean region

Silva-Ramos (2002) showed a list of native

Andean species but, many of them are subjec-

ted or vulnerable to genetic erosion processes, they need attention by the responsible entities

for preservation, among them:

1 Andean roots and tubers: oca (Oxalis spp.),


389

potato (Solanum spp.), camote (Ipomoea

spp.), mashwa (Tropaeolum spp.), arracacha

(Arracacia spp.), ajipa (Pachyrrhizus spp.);

2 Grains: quinoa (Chenopodium spp.);

quiwicha (Amaranthus spp.), tarwi or chocho (Lupinus spp.);

3 Fruits and vegetables: cocoa (Theobroma

spp.), sinini (Annona spp.), tuna (Opuntia

spp.), paico (Chenopodium spp.); chilto

(Physalis spp.), motacú (Attalea pharelata),

pacay (Inga spp.), guayaba (Psidium spp.),

achachairú (Rheedia spp.) and peanut (Ara-chis spp.);

4 Stimulants and spices: different kinds of pepper (Capsicum spp.).

And more: Phaseolus spp., Manihot spp.,

Lycopersicon spp., Mirabilis spp., Cucurbita

spp., Carica spp. (posibly Vasconcellea spp.)

and Passiflora spp.

Ecuador

Espinosa et al. (1996) surprisingly state as

marginal crops in the Ecuadorian territory the ARTCs (Andean roots and tubers), mainly the Arracacia xanthorhiza (white carrot), Ullucus tuberosum (ollucos), Oxalis tuberosa (oca), Tro-paeolum tuberosum (mashua) and Canna edulis

(achira). Their cropping has reduced drastically

in 10 to 20 years.

However, in this case the interest for their use has not been reduced, but some factors are

shown as limiting for the sowing of ARTCs,

among them, the unavailability of seeds, ad-

verse weather conditions (frost, wind), the soil

fertility reduction, irrigation inaccessibility,

high cost of agricultural inputs and pests that affect these crops.

Bolivia

According to Silva-Ramos (2002), the highest

value for the genetic resources in Bolivia, pri-

mary center of origin of several plant species, consists on the high inter and intraspecific

genetic variability and also in its cultivars.

These comprise the genetic material of high

importance to be used at the short, middle and

long term in breeding programs, either conven-

tional, assisted or by Participative Breeding (PBP). A PBP program can be developed in qui-

noa, beans, sweet potatoes, corn, peanuts, ca-

ssava, potato, squash and peppers, among

others.

Taking into account the active centers for

germplasm conservation, the ex situ method for

those species of orthodox seeds in Bolivia. For

recalcitrant seeds the recommended preserva-tion is in situ till in vitro conservation is imple-

mented at the centers. Agroforestry species,

pastures and others must specifically involve conservation in situ, under the system of pro-

tected areas and/or agro-ecological systems

(Silva-Ramos, 2002).

Peru

Pastor et al. (2007), point out as main un-

derutilized crops in Peru to “those native crops

that meet at least, two of three proposed crite-

ria, (1) low production, (2) irregular presence or

absence in the exports market and (3) absence

in the capital city´s markets. Among the un-derutilized crops in Peru are some ARTCs like

potatoes, ollucos, oca, mashua, tomatoes,

sweet potato, Andean cereals and grains ((qui-

noa, amaranto, some maize varieties) and

fruits.

Brazil

Bohrer-Monteiro Siqueira and Veasey (2009),

name the role of traditional agriculture that,

besides directly generate diversity, keeps ‘ethno

varieties’ of cassava, yams and sweet potato, all

with high genetic variability. If human action does not exert direct influence, these local vari-

eties resist in nature for a short time or become

extinct due to competition with wild plants.

This aspect differentiates domesticated plants -

crop- from wild plants and demonstrates the interaction of dependence to crop plants –

human being-.

According to the same authors, a diagnosis

of the causes of abandonment or loss of these

local depreciated or in marginal state varieties,

initiated through a reading of rural areas, and especially the socio-economic and environmen-

tal situation in which family farming is inser-

ted, leading to strategies for rescue and wider

use of ethno varieties of cassava, yams and

sweet potatoes.

Spain

Hernández-Bermejo and León (1992), draw

attention to forgotten crops and uses in Spain.

The marginalization of many crops is the "re-

sult of the impact of the flora of the Old World

in America and American flora in Spain. Among these causes:

a. Loss of competitiveness of some species in

front of more productive ones;



390

b. Slow and progressive changes in the mores,

feeding habits and life styles;

c. Stablished competence by the economic and politic interests outside the reference

region and cultures;

d. Religious or cultural persecutions generally

associated to the previous cause;

e. Disappearance of ethnic groups and local communities that know the uses of the

plants and crop forms and uses”.

However, Hernández-Bermejo (2013), high-

lights that “the Iberian agrodiversity also su-

ffered in parallel a significant loss with margi-

nalization or neglect of many crops altogether”. Some were hidden, others came and settled in

the "New Continent, being conserved until to-

day, incorporated into its ethnobotanical, agri-

cultural and food heritage.”

“Hence the Maya gardens are (…) a (…) niche for in situ conservation of NUS, especially

of some subtropical fruits like citrus and, (…) in the feeding of some countries like Argentina

it is preserved the consumption of bitter herbs

like arugula and radicchio”, being possible “to

recuperate the germplasm (…) including their

associated food traditions”. Hernández-Bermejo

(2013) concludes that crop diversification by using NUS, will always be a successful strategy

and overall a need for agriculture.

Colombia

Caetano and coworkers have proposed, from

direct and indirect inventories, the construc-tion of a NUS list for Colombia, with emphasis

on those that contribute to the food and nu-

trient sovereignty and security from direct and

indirect inventories (Table 1).

Table 1. Identification of orphan, obsolete, promisory and underutilized (forgotten) crops of Colombia.

Common

name Scientific name Family

Category Origin Classification Wild

parent Preservation

State (IUCN)* Orphan Obsolete Native PSPC Promi-

sing Under-

utilized Intro-

duced Dome-

sticated Semi-

dome-

sticated

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Almost threatened

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Minor worries

It continues in the next page


391

NUS according to the CFF

‘Crops for the Future’ (CFF 2015), the new

operative denomination for the ‘International

Centre for Underutilized Crops’ (ICUC) and the

‘Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Spe-cies’ (GFU) point out that NUS contribute to the

improvement of the survival means of human

populations since they:

1 Increase the farms income, valuing the life

style adopted by the family farming (AF);

2 Assure the food and nutrient sovereignty and security;

3 Encourage the creation of new markets,

mainly for eco-friendly produces;

4 Secure the production with low external

inputs and the stabilization of the ecosys-

tems;

5 Collaborate with increasing biodiversity,

because by supporting stress conditions,

they occupy important ecological niches,

Comes from the previous page

Common

name Scientific name Family

Category Origin Classification Wild

parent Preservation

State (IUCN)* Orphan Obsolete Native PSPC Promi-

sing Under-

utilized Intro-

duced Dome-

sticated Semi-

dome-

sticated Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet Not evaluated yet Not evaluated yet Not evaluated yet Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet Minor worry

Almost threatened

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet

Not evaluated yet



392

giving then support for functional redun-

dancy.

Participative breeding

The first projects involving the methodology of

participatory action research and more specifi-

cally the tool for participatory selection of plants tool (PSP), participatory breeding (PB) or

participatory plant breeding (PPB) in the late

1990s, were developed in Morocco, Syria and

Tunisia by ICARDA (International Center for

Agricultural Research in Dry Areas) (Cecarelli et al., 2001).

In these marginal areas, yield of staple

crops was low, while malnutrition and risk of

famine were high. Conventional breeding me-

thods were ineffective, centralized and in their

selection criteria did not include those features of importance for farmers (Walker, 2007).

Experience in Syria showed that decentra-

lized selection, associated with the participa-

tion of farmers from the beginning of the bree-

ding process resulted in the most appropriate

methodology to fit crops to specific biophysical, social and economic contexts, and thus re-

spond to the needs and knowledge of farmers

(Vernooy 2003, Vernoy and Song, 2004).

By Participatory Crop Improvement (PCI),

Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB), is under-stood a plant breeding strategy in which the

members of the productive chain (plant bree-

ders, technicians, farmers and others) work

together in the variety development process.

Opposite to the conventional plant breeding,

the PPB is decentralized and participative (Ce-carelli et al., 2001).

Therefore, linking communities is vital in

implementing a proposal of this nature, since

they are the ones who best know the origin,

behavior and adaptation of their seeds, in addi-

tion to direct contribution to food and nutri-tional sovereignty, through the promotion of

use of local resources for food and agriculture (Eyzaguirre et al., 1998).

The PB process is mainly characterized by

the systematized inclusion of the abilities, ex-

periences, practices, knowledge and expertise (Toledo Machado, Santilli and Magalhães,

2008), of the local communities in their reread

and perception of their environment. In this

way, the PB is a rescue and valuation tool for

the ancestral expertise and traditional knowledge associated to it.

The Participative Breeding reaches wider

objectives than the genetic ‘conventional’ or

‘formal’ breeding. According to Toledo Macha-do, Santilli and Magalhães (2008); Morris and

Bellon (2004), earnings in productivity are ob-

served together with, conservation and promo-

tion of biodiversity and genetic variability; gain

and use of adapted germplasm to local condi-tions; intrapopulational selection; evaluation or

participative selection of varieties; launch and

dissemination of new germplasm; diversifica-

tion of cropping systems and the production

and promotion of seeds. Being a decentralized

and participatory process contributes to the empowerment and decision making of key

managers and stakeholders: local populations.

For Almekinders and Elings (2001), the PB

is an alternative and complementary tool to the

conventional or formal plant breeding, which is closely related to the conservation in situ. The

main limitation of the formal breeding is based

on productivity or crop yield in favorable envi-

ronments with high use of chemical inputs and

irrigation; also does not consider cultural pre-

ferences and local conditions in marginal re-gions.

Among the methodologies, techniques and

tools used, work with traditional communities

developed today by the GIRFIN is oriented to-

ward methodologies of PR-Participatory Re-

search or PAR- Participatory Action Research. This has been applied in the study of the races

of maize described for Colombia, under the

approach of Participatory Breeding (PB), Parti-

cipatory Plant Breeding (PPB) or Participatory

Plant Selection (SPP).

Considered a strategy of conservation of

agricultural biodiversity, with the proposed

participatory plant breeding many of the cha-

racteristics of rusticity and adaptation of local

seeds remain. These seeds are the product of

selection pressure by traditional communities over time, driving the selection process accor-ding to their needs and preferences (Cecarelli et al., 2009). Therefore, the decision-making in a

PB program is complemented by the apprecia-

tion of farmers and agronomic results.

Among the preferences of communities, for maize, are the color of grains (yellow, white,

purple, red, black, etc.), type of grain (crysta-

lline, semi-crystalline and floury or soft), size

and grain shape; number of ears per plant, cob

size, number of rows on the cob; precocity; to-

lerance or resistance to pests or pathogens;


393

culinary use as cob and dry states, among

others.

According to Cecarelli (2012), from the two basic strategies for PB, in the PVS the goal is to

value the available germplasm. At the same

time, the PPB is applied with the goal of rescu-

ing and/or valuing the local varieties qualities

or, for marginal environments and/or crop conditions or strict quality specifications.

The PVS is easy to implement: its cost is

low and generates results at short term, it

means that the varieties are quickly adopted by

the farmers that participate in the process. On

the other hand, the PPB is useful to increase the genetic basis or, even when the implemen-

tation of PVS did not reach the successful re-

sults.

Under the perspective of Participatory

Breeding, in all the five stages of development of a new variety it is fundamental the participa-

tion of farmers, or community members. The

first three stages comprised the PPB. The first

four comprise the PVS:

1 Goals of selection (what characteristic is

aimed for selection);

2 Creation of variability (crosses);

3 Selection;

4 Evaluation;

5 Dissemination.

According to Machado et al. (2006), it is

essential that varieties, after rescued, be sub-jected to experimentation in different locations

and for several years to determine its value as a

local variety, allow their diffusion through the

exchange of materials by farmers, or assess

their potential for genetic breeding, validating its use in different agro-ecosystems. The evalu-

ation of different local maize varieties in diffe-

rent agro-ecosystems provides important gene-

tic sources for various types of biotic stress

(pests, diseases, weeds or companion planting)

or abiotic (Maize Program 1999).Additionally, through the PB the collection and assessment

of varieties adapted to local agro-ecological

conditions is given, which are associated with a

given functional agroecosystem. It should,

therefore, prioritize the development of varieties and their seeds, according to the requirements

of communities that can respond positively to

agro-ecological production systems.

Participative breeding of corn in farm and indigenous communities in

Colombia

In several Latin American countries, small far-

mers from the family farming have been in-

cluded in the rescue of the genetics of native

varieties and the preservation of the agro-

biodiversity in their farms, opposite to the cu-rrent model and the imposed global politics

(Santilli 2005, Santilli and Emperaire 2006).

For corn, experiences have been recorded in countries such as Brazil (Soares et al., 1998,

Machado et al., 2006), Honduras (Smith et al., 2001), Mexico (Smith et al., 2001; Zambrano,

2013) Argentina (Brocolli and Pardías, 2009), Guatemala (FAO 2011a, 2011b), among others.

In Colombia, the first proposal for PB in na-

tive corn “Recuperation and conservation of

native and indigenous corn from highlands in

Colombia under the methodology of participa-

tive breeding”, was developed by the GIRFIN between 2010-2011 (Vásquez and Caetano,

2011), in the surrounding of Tenerife-El Moral,

located on the western edge of the Central Cor-

dillera, municipality of El Cerrito, Department

of del Valle del Cauca. The local population is

In Colombia, the first proposal for PB in na-

tive corn “Recuperation and conservation of

native and indigenous corn from highlands in

Colombia under the methodology of participa-

tive breeding”, was developed by the GIRFIN

between 2010-2011 (Vásquez and Caetano, 2011), in the surrounding of Tenerife-El Moral,

located on the western edge of the Central Cor-

dillera, municipality of El Cerrito, Department

of del Valle del Cauca. The local population is

mainly originated in the Departments of An-tioquia (antioqueña, Colombian northwest) and

Nariño (nariñense, Colombian southwest). In

this zone abundant crops are long onion,

cilantro, cabbage, strawberry, blackberry,

among others. No large or medium corn crops

are found.

GIRFIN (Research Group on Neotropical

Plant Genetic Resources, Universidad Nacional

de Colombia - Palmira), that keeps a

germplasm collection of local races/varieties of

Colombian corn, supported by ICA, have se-lected initially the place for multiplication of

highlands corn seeds (those developed in ther-

mal floors above 1800 masl), in the Experi-

mental Station of the governorship of the De-

partment of Valle del Cauca in Tenerife, located

at 2664 masl, 3°43'47.8'' N and 76°4'35.6'' W



394

and, El Moral at 2125 masl, 03°41'09.6'' N and

076°04'25.6'' W, with average temperature

between 10 °C and 17 °C and annual rainfall of 2.000 mm. The sowing happened in December

2009.

The diversity of corns awoke in the local

community interest in exchanging seeds, learn

methods of controlled pollination and new vari-eties for planting in their areas, although cha-

racterized as small areas (less than 1 ha), con-

sisting of solar, gardens or plots. Few families

have the right to possess the land. No corn

crops in medium or large scale and few local

varieties are planted, according to inventory by us.

The first socialization of the project at the

local school (Figure 1), was reported by local

radio, through brochures and personally. In

this, the corn characteristics required by far-mers were defined. Some farms select corn for

its production, that is, the number of ears per

plant, the size of cob, size and weight of grains,

or precocity, or grain colors or texture, or re-

sistance to cold and other abiotic and biotic

conditions.

It was agreed between the participants

(Tenerife and El Moral farmers, researchers

and technicians) that the experimental plot

(multiplication by GIRFIN) will be used for

workshops on the species biology and for con-

trolled pollination (Figure 1), but in each speci-

fic space each participant will give the manage-ment that he used to give to the crop.

Later, the experimental plot served as a

comparison with the farmers plots, where, the

traditional management benefits were easy to

document (crop associations, plantings accor-ding to the lunar calendar, among others), in

comparison to the conventional agricultural

management (chemical input use, monocrop

planting, breed germplasm).

Then, a socio-economical diagnose from

farm to farm was developed and the sowing area was established. In the second general

socialization the seeds of several races and va-

rieties (Capio, Pollo, Pira Naranja, ‘Timbrado’,

‘Porva’ –from savanna with floury grains– and

‘Arroz’ –from savanna with crystalline grains –) were delivered, that are supposedly adapted to

similar environmental conditions. Among the

local corns that were inventoried, corn seeds

exchanged were ‘Amarillo’, ‘Morocho’, ‘Negro’ de

Perú and Capio (‘Pintado’).

A practical workshop for recovery of tradi-tional uses of corn in feeding was done. In spe-

cial, the main forms for corn consumption were

shared (cob, wrapped, bread, corn bread, soup,

chicha, among others) in the event “First Mee-

ting Sharing the Harvest Nurturing Life – Cre-ole Corns" in the local school, September 24,

2011, with the aim of assessing the use of na-

tive seeds in food and promote the exchange of

traditional knowledge and seeds.

The community in Tenerife and El Moral do

not have a properly constituted association for defense of the conservation of local or intro-

duced and renatured genetic resources. Ho-

wever, among participants they highlighted

some arrangement for keepers of seeds, as they

keep on their farms an interesting biodiversity. These people can be identified as custodians or

guardians of seeds in Tenerife-El Moral, ie. with

conservationist calling (Figure 1).

The project achieved awareness of the im-

portance of conservation of native seeds, diver-

sity and traditional knowledge associated with the management of the maize crop. Germplasm

was identified with the greatest potential for

adaptation to agro-climatic conditions in the

region. In addition, other species of cold wea-ther such as quinoa (Chenopodium quinua), oca

(Oxalis tuberosa) and yellow potato (Solanum spp.) were recovered (Figure 2).

Figure 1. First socialization of the project in the village Tenerife, municipality

of El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Jorge Isaacs School, 2010; a- b)

Socialization of the project: “Recovery of highlands corns” with members of

the community; c) Multiplication plot of highland corn in Sibundoy Valley,

Putumayo, Colombia; d) controlled pollination to obtain pure seeds. (Source:

GIRFIN, 2010-2012; photograph records with previous authorization).


395

Conceived to meet the needs of small far-

mers and their families in social conditions and economically marginal in different countries (Cecarelli et al., 2001), the PB was shown as an

efficient tool for contributing to food sovereign-

ty, conservation and use of plant genetic re-

sources in Tenerife, as it integrates the biologi-

cal component (knowledge and plant breeding) to the psychological and social dimensions of

human relationships (behaviors and cultures). Germplasm conservation on farms (in situ con-

servation ‘on farm’) and Participatory Breeding

resulted in innovative practices developed un-

der the PAR methodology (Participatory Action Research).

Finally, the extension of the proposal was

requested by indigenous communities Koko-

nuko (Cauca) and Camentsá Biya (Putumayo),

in July 2011, which led to develop the project

in the framework of the First National Call for Solidarity Extension – Direction for National

Extension of the Universidad Nacional de Co-

lombia.

Towards the creation of a PB program

The area of influence of the Universidad

Nacional de Colombia - Palmira reaches all the

southwest of the country (Putumayo, Nariño,

Cauca and Valle del Cauca), which receives

indigenous and rural students of the highlands and lowlands, whose benefit from research and

extension with regional agricultural vocations,

complementing their practical-empirical– tradi-

tional knowledge.

The goal of a new phase of the project PB

was to contribute to the conservation and re-

covery of Colombian races of maize, also strengthening the food sovereignty of indige-

nous communities of Kokonuko in Puracé

(Cauca) and Camentsá in the Sibundoy Valley

(Putumayo) and farmers of Santa Teresa-La

Quisquina (Palmira) and Tenerife-El Moral (El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca), through the reap-

praisal of traditional knowledge associated with

the use and crop management.

The socialization of the proposal with co-

mmunities was followed by a diagnosis of par-

ticipating families by semi-structured inter-views, participant observation and indirect ob-

servation (literature review) on the study areas.

Later, training workshops were conducted in

techniques for controlled pollination and data

acquisition for characterization according to the interests of communities.

In areas of indigenous reserves the recogni-

tion and documentation in the field of local

varieties and traditional management was also

performed, being two populations culturally

entrenched to corn and preservers of an exten-sive knowledge of the species. For Santa Tere-

sa-La Quisquina was conducted in parallel an

inventory of plant diversity on farms.

From the upland germplasm multiplied un-

der controlled pollination samples were stored in the working collection of GIRFIN and also,

seeds for donation were arranged for the partic-

ipating communities and new exchanges.

‘Highlands’, 'high' or 'cold lands' corns are

those races (or varieties) that develop from

1800 masl therefore are adapted to cold wea-ther and, usually present annual development.

Roberts et al. (1957), have recognized for

Colombia 23 corn races, 12 are from highlands

and 11 from lowlands (between 0 and 1800

masl). Highlands races are: Pira, Pollo, Imbri-

cado, Pira Naranja, Maíz Dulce, Cabuya, Mon-taña, Amagaceño, Capio, Sabanero, Clavo and

Harinoso Dentado. Additionally to the de-

scribed races, GIRFIN preserves in its collection

locally identified germplasm, from different

regions of the country which is called native corn or native variety (Figure 4). It is the case of

‘Rojo’, ‘Negro’, ‘Amarillo’ (Putumayo), ‘Granizo’,

‘Granizado’ (Putumayo, Nariño), ‘Diente de Ca-

ballo’, ‘Propio’ (Cauca), among others.

The communities linked to the PB process

(Figure 3) have the following general charac-teristics:

Figure 2. Corn varieties adapted and multiplied by farmers of the village

Tenerife, Cerrito, Valle del Cauca in 2011; a) Corn Pollo; b) Negro Peruano,

Timbrado and Amarillo (izq.-der.) Promotion of other species of feeding

importance in moderate cold weather; c) Fava bean (Vicia faba); d) V. faba

associated with oca (Oxalis tuberosa); e) Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa); f)

potato seeds (Solanum phureja). (Sources: Nunes Pazdiora B.R.C., GIRFIN,

2010-2013; Vásquez D.L., 2011).



396

1 Rural community village of Santa Teresa,

municipality of La Quisquina, Palmira, Va-

lle del Cauca. Located in the foothills of the Central Cordillera between 1600 and 1900

masl, with a climate of tropical dry forest.

The study area is located between 1,745

masl 3°35'50,50'' N and 76°10'12,94'' W

and 1673 masl 3°35'46.6'' N and 76°10'7,50'' W. Average temperature of 20

°C. Annual average rainfall of 1010 mm.

Composed of eight families from different

regions of the country who migrated to this

area for nearly five years ago, after being

displaced from their own territories.

2 Rural community of the village of Tenerife,

El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca. Located in the

western mountain range with fog forest

ecosystem is part of the buffer zone of the

National Natural Park Páramo de las Hermosas, with temperature between 10 °C

and 17 °C. Annual rainfall of 2000 mm. The

area in which this proposal was developed

is at an altitude between 2664 masl

3°43'47.8'' N and 76°4'35.6'' W and 2125 masl 3°41'09.6'' N and 76° 04'25.6'' W.

Group composed of five families in the area.

3 Indigenous community Kokonuko, reserva-

tion of Purace, Cauca, at 2818 masl

2°22'39,27'' N and 76°27'10,09'' W. Tempe-

rature between 10° and 17 °C. Annual ave-rage rainfall 1811 mm. Group of seed

keepers of the Cabildo Purace, villages

Chapio, Ambiro, el Tablon and Carpinteria.

Group composed of ten keepers (10 fami-

lies). This indigenous group is located in the central-eastern department of Cauca, in

the municipality of Purace, on the western

slope of the Central Cordillera area. Its te-

rritory is located on the right bank of the

upper basin of the Cauca River; in a range

of altitude between 2400 and 4000 masl.

4 Indigenous community Camëntsa Biyá in

Sibundoy, village San Felix, Sibundoy, Pu-

tumayo. Located in southwestern Colombia

in the foothills of the Colombian Macizo in

the Andes-Amazon region, northwest of the department of Putumayo at an altitude of

2200 masl, 1°10'50,75'' N, 76°53'05,47'' W.

With an average temperature of 16 °C.

Annual average rainfall of 2300 mm. Group

composed of 10 elders of the community

group.

Throughout the entire process of PB the

use of native corn for feeding was promoted

through practical workshops for recovery of

traditional food uses of corn. On each day or

encounter different traditional recipes from each region were prepared with corns from the

same communities, involving the whole family.

Considering the lack of a generational

change in rural areas of Colombia, participa-

tion is encouraged in children of families in

integration activities and assessment of daily tasks that preserve landraces. Seed and

knowledge exchanges among participating fa-

milies and GIRFIN and dissemination tech-niques for ex situ conservation of seeds were

other key activities in the process of awareness

of the importance of traditional knowledge.

Figure 3. Communities linked with the stage II: Participatory breeding in

traditional communities of Colombia: a) Rural community village Santa

Teresa, La Quisquina, Palmira, Valle del Cauca; b) Rural community of the

village Tenerife, El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca; c) Indigenous community

Kokonuko, reserve Puracé, Cauca; d) Indigenous community Camëntsa Biyá

in Sibundoy, village San Felix, Sibundoy, Putumayo. (Sources: GIRFIN, 2011-

2012; Vásquez D.L., 2012; photograph records with previous authorization).


397

The adoption of the strategy PPB is due to

that in the worked areas, which are introduced

in the Andean region or Andean foothills, much of the production of basic grains, roots and

tubers, it is carried out in marginal conditions

by small and medium producers. These far-

mers make almost no use of improved varieties,

believing that these do not respond well in marginal conditions and/or low input systems.

They also consider that improved varieties

are not always adapted to the different uses

given to a local variety, and that access to im-

proved seeds is limited, it has a high cost

(technology package). Therefore, in these tradi-tional agro-ecosystems predominate informal

seed systems, with swaps and exchanges.

Through the PPB local genetic diversity at

risk and underutilized is promoted, valued and

the ancestral knowledge, preferences of far-mers, agro-ecological conditions and cultural

practices are considered and finally, there is

better control of genotype x environment inte-ractions (Soares et al. 1998). It is also possible

to do a gender analysis, which determines who

participate in the various decisions and there-fore the impact of such participation in re-

search. This tool is understood as a particular

type for stakeholder analysis, where the most

important variable to discriminate the defini-

tion of the interest group is the genus (CGIAR 1999, Lilja et al. 2001).

As stated by Desclaux (2005) and Toledo

Machado, Santilli and Magalhães (2008), the

right of the farmers and/or holders of agricul-

tural biodiversity as cultural heritage collective-

ly built as local varieties, practices, accumula-

ted ancestral knowledge and innovation, which together constitute the traditional knowledge

must be guaranteed by legal instruments. Al-

though indigenous and rural communities play

an important conservationist role, they are ex-

cluded from political processes and decision making. Inadequate policies and laws related to

the PGR can be major causes of genetic ero-

sion, because they recommend sowing high-

yielding varieties, a process that leads to the

replacement of varieties, traditional practices

and uses.

Germplasm selection

In the study described here for some communi-

ties PVS was adapted and for others PPB was

used. Thus, for Tenerife the available Capio

corn germplasm was valued. For Purace and

Sibundoy communities the local varieties were

valued such as Yucatan and Capio for the first one and ‘Granizo’, ‘Timbrado’, ‘Rojo’ and ‘Negro’

for the second one. In corn the genetic variabi-

lity is high, reducing the stage for creation of it.

As methodologic tools surveys were used with a

semi-structured questionnaire, participant ob-servation, theory-practical workshops, seed

fairs and interchange of knowledge (thought

meetings).

Stages developed

1 Local germplasm rescue: it was done with

the aim of increasing the genetic variability

of the corn varieties in the village San Felix,

in the municipality Sibundoy, to select vari-

eties better adapted to this agro-ecosystem.

Besides local varieties, varieties or races from other locations in Colombia were tes-

ted to know their behavior under the

weather conditions of the Sibundoy Valley.

2 Evaluation assays: in order to know the

genetic variability of the rescued varieties, evaluating their adaptation to the local en-

vironment and the system of agro-ecological

production, exchange experiences of far-

mers in different communities, workshops

in the field for learning assisted pollination

and genetic diversity of corn, two trials were conducted, the first in the San Felix, in Si-

bundoy, Putumayo and the second in La

Quisquina, Palmira, Valle del Cauca.

The trial established in Sibundoy aimed to

increase and characterize the morpho-

agronomy of highland materials from the GIRFIN collection (70 entries). In this collec-

tion are included 14 entries from the mu-

nicipalities Sibundoy, Santiago and San

Francisco. In the case of the materials tes-

ted in La Quisquina, the aim was to in-crease and observe the behavior of some

materials in these weather conditions, at

1800 masl, since some varieties considered

lowland and upland were planted there.

From the morphoagronomic characteristics

evaluated for selection were considered: (1) days to male flowering; (2) days to silking;

(3) plant height (m); (4) ear height (m); (5)

length of the cob; (7-9) average, basal and

apical diameter of the ear; (10) number of

rows from the cob; (11-13) color, type and texture of the grain; (14-15) length and



398

number of branches of the spike, among

others, similarly to Machado (1998), in a

program of PPB with local maize varieties in Brazil.

3 Stratified massal selection in corn crops:

methodology of plant breeding to select in-

dividuals by the phenotype, to improve

agronomical characteristics of interest for the user. Involves five steps at different

growth stages of the plant (Witcombe and

Virk 2009). These are:

3.1 Pre-sowing (seed selection) and sowing

(plot location, sowing, isolation);

3.2 Vegetative (identification of the plot, di-vision of the plot, plant labelling, and

labelling and selection of plants);

3.3 Reproductive (removal of male flowers

in undesirable plants, selection and la-

belling of plants);

3.4 Physiological maturity (selection by co-

verage, harvesting) and

3.5 Pre and post-harvesting (drying, sto-

ring).

In the present study the selection of the

features of interest to farmers initially was the agroclimatological adaptation; all harvested

material was planted in the next cycle to in-

crease the adaptation and amount of seeds.

It is recognized by several participants that

expectations towards the material selected ini-tially for planting do not necessarily resulted in

a good harvest, for example floury materials

have a high rate of rotting in fresh cob, which

prevented obtaining seed. Despite this, the

Capio corn from Sibundoy, with floury texture,

showed their adaptation to a stable production with grain quality considered by the farmer as

"excellent”.

Promoting use of local breeds and varieties

with their food and nutraceutical qualities or

generates in every local community and the tendency to increase, improve and maintain the

culture thereof. Participation in the practice of

food processing by individual family members,

using own resources, is a way of revaluing cul-

tural traditions, recreating them according to

the needs of new generations (De la Calle, 2010).

For this reason, intrinsic to plant research,

is fundamental the integration to wider pro-

grams that allow continuity for the search of

local varieties that are more stable, the improve

the life quality of farmers in their regions and

strengthen their culture and identity, which is very important to preserve the knowledge of the

native communities.

Production of community seeds

The seed production work was always linked to Participatory Breeding works. Within the care

measurements adopted by communities are the

choice of area and isolation of the field to avoid

contamination. Storage was done in plastic

bottles or traditional systems being the most widely used the conservation of whole cobs to

constant smoke from wood stove.

The genetic variability of corn is a strength

for the Department of Putumayo and south-

western Colombia, as it represents a significant

reservoir of different kinds of this grain that strengthen the sovereignty and food and nutri-

tion security. Corn is tied to social, cultural

and historical processes of traditional commu-

nities, being considered a cultural and natural

heritage (Zambrano 2013, Caetano and Díaz 2014).

In addition to contributing with the conser-

vation and sustainable management of the pre-

sent genetic variability of corn, rescue and va-

luing traditional knowledge, empowerment of

stakeholders with knowledge about how to ac-quire their own breeding varieties according to

their own selection objectives was emphasized. According to Machado et al. (2006), empower-

ment (or self-independence efforts in communi-

ty development) of rural communities can be

made from the sustainable management of ag-ricultural biodiversity in agro-ecological sys-

tems.

The loss of farming systems, races and local

varieties cause that the values (ie. cultural and

social) are also lost, as a result of erosion pro-cesses impoverishment of communities of sub-

sistence farmers is verified, which puts at risk

the security and food and nutrition sovereignty (Stella et al. 2006).

How much of the diversity of races have

been really lost? How much of these have been transformed into modern varieties? How much

diversity was collected by previous explorers?

and how much it is preserved in genebanks?

Are the races conserved enough for agriculture

today and tomorrow? These are the questions to be resolved, according Hammer et al. (1996).


399

The development of this proposal for PB in

southwestern Colombia allowed, for some

communities, restitution of the diversity of na-tive and indigenous corn and contributed to the

use, management and conservation of local

varieties of high value of direct and indirect

use, or value of nonuse - option, heritage and

existence. PB program has to be innovative regarding food security policies without propo-

sing transitional and short-term measures but

structural transformations, for social inclusion

and income generation to needy families. In

addition to food security, it should prioritize

strengthening family agriculture (production for own consumption), since it can be produced in

sufficient quantities, nutritional quality and

facilitate access to feed the local population in

a situation of social vulnerability and food in-

security (Gazzolla and Schneider, 2004).

However, as a turning point, Desclaux

(2005) notes that the PPB should not be re-

duced as 'assisted selection by the farmer'.

Agronomists are support for farmers in a better

characterization of the environment. As crop-

ping systems are associated to social criteria, their identification leads to recognize the real

needs of farmers, and therefore generate more

suitable varieties. The PPB should not be lim-

ited to studies for a limited time to document

indigenous knowledge and preferences period farmers.

For efficiency, the participation should be a

permanent characteristic of the plant breeding

programs associated to crops in difficult agri-

culture and surroundings with the environ-

ment (Desclaux, 2005). According to Morris and Bellon (2004), “more participation is not

necessarily better. Participation should be seen

as a mean towards an aim”.

The main goals of the PB are to get a locally

adapted germplasm, promote the genetic diver-sity and viable the empowering in the farmers.

It is not a program lead by farmers, neither by

a formal professional organization. The interac-

tion is collegial and decentralized, with farmer

participation during the first three steps of the

breeding scheme. Participating farmers have the right to be considered partners of the

breeding program and not just consumers or

end users varieties (Desclaux, 2005).

New corn races for Colombia: PGR for value and use

During the 50’s a process for collection of na-

tive and indigenous corn was done in most of

the Colombian territory, recording 1899 entries for the national germplasm bank. One of the

products was the description and classification

of all the germplasm in 23 races, grouped into three racial groups (Roberts et al., 1957). The

first group, Primitive races, is composed for

only two races. The second group, with nine races, is known as Probably Introduced. Fina-

lly, the third group, de Colombian Hybrids

comprises 12 races (Table 2).

Between the years 2007-2014 the GIRFIN,

supported by the Colombian Agricultural Insti-tute (ICA), made a sampling in those places described by Roberts et al. (1957) comparing

the ecogeographical distribution in these two

times (50’s and now). Thus, we increase to 34

the number of races of Colombian corn and

described an important number of local varie-ties (Figures 4 and 5, Caetano et al., 2014).

All this germplasm of corn is considered

with the NUS criteria. Additionally, we postu-

late a fourth racial group and the existence of a

genic complex formed by the variants of the

race Chococeño. Therefore, the racial groups according to Caetano et al. are: Primitive, In-

troduced Colombian Hybrids and Strictu Sensu

Colombian Hybrids Races (Table 2).

The morphological analysis (Maigual and

Caetano, in preparation) and the molecular

analysis done (RAM, SSR and cpDNA, genomic region AtpB-1-RbcL-1; Revelo et al., 2015) iden-

tified three racial groups defined by Roberts et al. (1957), although with variation among the

races that composed them and, a fourth group.

The cpDNA study located the race Imbricado in

the ‘Primitive’ racial group together with Pollo

and Pira, all pop-up corn of small cobs and crystalline grains (Table 2).

With cpDNA, for the ‘(Probably) Introduced’

group were determined seven of the nine races described by Roberts et al. (1957). Both catego-

ries have in common the races Güirua, Clavo,

Andaquí and Cariaco. To the seven races are associated Yucatán, Costeño and Cabuya. Ad-

ditionally, with the recently introduced races

are 13 races: Güirua, Clavo, Andaquí, Cariaco,

Yucatán, Costeño, Cabuya, Morocho, Moro-

chillo, Capia, Negro Peruano, Canguil and



400

Chulpi or ‘Ecuadorian Sweetcorn’ (Caetano et al., 2014).

The third racial group ‘Colombian Hybrids’

is composed of 13 races according to the cpDNA analysis (Revelo et al. 2015), with simi-

lar races counting for nine in relation to Ro-berts et al. (1957). These two categories do not

share the races Pira Naranja, Sabanero,

Harinoso Dentado and Maíz Dulce, since Ro-berts et al. (1957) considered them as ‘Probably

Introduced’. The other races, common to both studies are Montaña, Negrito, Puya, Cho-

coceño, Amagaceño, Común, Puya Grande,

Capio and Cacao.

Based on the studies developed by us, the

‘Colombian Hybrid’ races are: Montaña, Negri-

to, Puya, Puya Grande, Amagaceño, Común,

Pira Naranja, Sabanero, Harinoso Dentado,

Chococeño complex (with its variants), plus the new races Caucano, Timbrado, Azul Vallecau-

cano, Negro de Tabanok and Rojo Sureño, for a total of 15 races (Caetano et al. 2014).

Based on the cpDNA, the Colombian

Sweetcorn comprises, together wih Capio and

Cacao, a group derived from the Colombian Hybrids. This two latest races are categorized both, by Roberts et al. (1957) and by the

cpDNA, as Colombian Hybrids. Possibly the

Colombian Sweetcorn and Capio are influenced

by Ecuadorian germplasm of ‘Sweet corn or

Chulpi’ and from ‘Capia’ respectively. Cacao is related by its floury endosperm and aleuronic

color, also present in Capio. This group is

Table 2. Distribution of racial groups of Colombian corns according to

Roberts et al. (1957) and Caetano et al.

Colombian corn races

Racial group

Primitives

Probably

introduced

Colombian Hybrids

Strictu sensu Colombian

Hybrids

Figure 4. Colombian races and varieties of corn. (Source: Vásquez D.L., 2011).

Figure 5. A show of corn variability in Colombia. a) Amarillo Corn; b)

Timbrado Corn; c) Negro Corn; d) Rojo Corn. (Source: Caetano Nuñes D.,

GIRFIN, 2013).


401

named ‘Strictu sensu Colombian Hybrids’ (Cae-tano et al. 2014), because of their germplasm

origin (Table 2).

Perspectives

The native and indigenous seeds are a heritage

and invaluable genetic reservoir and are the

basis for improving local seed systems and corn production. Therefore, the Community reserves

of seeds should be considered a local technolo-

gy alternative to support climate change mitiga-

tion in vulnerable communities and revive pro-

duction, therefore there is a need to assess the

feasibility of an additional study to address this issue from the social point of view.

The PB is a research validated tool that

guides and defines the process of obtaining

plant varieties, in accordance with the prefer-

ences and needs of farmers and their environ-ment. Graphic documentation may be a greater

impact, since besides the self-recognition of the

participants in these outreach materials serve

as input for the awareness of children for con-

servation. Moreover, recognition of local au-

thorities is necessary and that regional and/or national government directives consider the

establishment of permanent PB programs with

communities.

In the present study, it is observed that

farming aimed at family food production in traditional communities are now almost exclu-

sively in the hands of the elderly. The need to

involve young people in order to maintain tradi-

tional knowledge associated, conserve native

seeds and bring them to their environment is

evident. The above is a strategy to be used by the directives to generate empowerment of the

possibilities offered in the environment, so that

they are directly involved in its territory and

reduce the migration to urban centers.

The methodology PPB provided along germplasm adapted and improved to local

needs of communities, empowering partici-

pants’ knowledge, strengthening communities

in their cultural identity and the integration of

isolated communities with different entities of

the civil society (academic institutions, scien-tific, local authorities). Therefore, it should be

inserted in the academic context of the relevant

areas, in addition to continuing education pro-

grams.

According to Machado et al. (2008), institu-

tions and government entities should encou-

rage the development of participatory research,

including MP, to strengthen family farming and

public policies directed at the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, in

order to adopt a sustainable model of produc-

tion to respond effectively to security and food

and nutrition sovereignty of local populations.

We complement that universities, through their mission of solidary extension, should encou-

rage the dissemination of this tool, training

professionals from a more holistic view.

It is highly feasible an integrated conserva-

tion and utilization of PGRFA approach. Such

approach should be anchored on increasing productivity through continued access and

exchange of genetic resources; sustainability

resulting from the combination use-

preservation; the partition of the benefits re-

sulting from the use of PGR and equity through the full participation of those responsible for

the conservation of these resources.

Acknowledgements

To the DNIE – National Direction of Research and Extension, Solidarity Extension Office of

the UNAL for the financial support and the

great quality technical assistance to the Project

of Solidarity Extension ‘Native Corns’, National

call 2012.

To the Indigenous Cabildo Camëntsa Byiá in the Sibundoy Valley, Putumayo, Colombia.

To the communities and people that su-

pported us, and with who we share these

achievements.

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